Ackert: Yoenis Cespedes not meeting Mets in Miami speaks volumes about his situation

MIAMI -- Yo, where are you? Yoenis Cespedes was nowhere to be found in the visiting clubhouse at Miami Friday. Generally Mets players rehabbing two hours north in Port St. Lucie are eager to make the trip down when the team is in Miami. They like to get out of the sleepy town and mundane routine of rehab and catch up with teammates. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said he had hoped to “get our eyes on him and have a chat with him,” here during this series.

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Friday afternoon, however, Cespedes was not heading down I-95. Callaway said the team decided he should stay put.

“He’s not going to join us here in Miami,” Callaway announced Friday afternoon. “We thought it would probably hinder his rehab to come here for a couple days. We’ll keep him in Port St. Lucie and continue what he’s doing.”

From the sounds of it, however, Cespedes still isn’t doing very much and the Mets can’t expect much anytime soon.

Yoenis Cespedes was nowhere to be found in the visiting clubhouse Friday in Miami. (Kathy Willens / AP)

Out since May 13 with what the team called a “mild strain” of his right hip flexor, which Cespedes identified as a right quad issue, he still has not attempted to run.

“Yeah. He’s feeling a lot better,” Callaway said when asked if he had spoken to his star player recently. “There is some improvement, not still in the clear as far as getting out and being able to run. But not that far along that he can run.”

Therefore, it is unlikely that Cespedes could get back on his feet, ramp up baseball activities and then get enough at-bats to return before the end of July, let alone before the All-Star break.

Team sources expressed frustration at not having their big right-handed back in the lineup as the season has gone into a free fall and said they don’t expect him back “anytime soon.”

Perhaps burned by optimism before, Callaway wouldn’t comment on an estimated timeline for getting Cespedes back in Flushing.

Mickey Callaway has to wonder whether a Yoenis Cespedes return would even help the Mets at this point. (Rich Schultz / Getty Images)

“Can’t speculate on that,” Callaway said. “We’re just going day to day with Ces at this point.”

It’s been like that for a month and a half, and it doesn’t seem like it is going to get any better going forward for the next two years either.

Sandy Alderson, who stepped down as Mets GM last week because of a recurrence of the cancer he was diagnosed with after the 2015 season, revealed that Cespedes’ issue is “chronic.”

So, the Mets may have to spend the rest of Cespedes’ contract waiting for him to be healthy enough to play.

The Mets signed Cespedes to a four-year, $110 million deal before the 2017 season.

He played just half a season, missing 81 games, in 2017 while dealing with hamstring injuries to both legs.

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"If the team remains playing this way, I don’t think it’s going to help but I’m eager to go back.”

Yoenis Cespedes

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Heading into Friday night’s series opener at Marlins Park, Cespedes had missed the last 41 games out of the 78 games the Mets had played so far.

Alderson had revamped the Mets’ medical staff this winter, in part because of the injuries to Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard last season.

Cespedes, 32, reported to spring training having changed his offseason workouts to try and keep his legs flexible and healthy.

“I think all along, he’s expressed frustration. He did everything he could this winter to stay healthy,” Callaway said. “Yeah, he’s definitely frustrated he’s not here helping the team.”

But the last time he spoke to the media, Cespedes didn’t actually seem that frustrated, he seemed resigned to the fact that the Mets were playing out a lost season.

“I’m working very hard to go back and help the team start getting on the winning track,” Cespedes said after a rehab assignment before he was shut down and the Mets started the process over.

“But for the way the team is playing right now, even if I’m doing very well, if the team remains playing this way, I don’t think it’s going to help but I’m eager to go back.”

That was almost three weeks ago. The Mets’ situation has only gotten worse and Cespedes doesn’t seem closer to being able to do anything about it.